1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an airless tire, and more particularly, to an airless tire which supports a load of a vehicle and of which a contact surface coming into contact with the ground is uniform and the durability of spokes are improved by the dispersion of stress for the improvement of ride quality.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a tire is one of components of a vehicle, and comes into direct contact with the road surface. Air present in the tire further improves ride quality by absorbing shock, which is caused by the unevenness of the road surface, through a buffer action like a spring.
Tires, which can achieve the controllability of a vehicle, can be classified into a radial tire, an airless tire, a solid tire, and the like according to the structure thereof. Among them, a radial tire (air tire type) is generally used in a car and a vehicle not having a special purpose. The radial tire has a complicated structure, and is manufactured by eight processes.
Further, in the radial tire, there is an inconvenience that air pressure absolutely important for the exhibition of performance and safety should be checked. Furthermore, the radial tire has a safety problem that a tire is damaged by an external object and shock while a vehicle is traveling.
Unlike this air tire, an airless tire is a tire of which production costs can be significantly reduced by a material and the simplification of processes and which is produced by a new process and a structure capable of reducing the amount of consumed energy and the amount of a generated harmful material. Moreover, the airless tire does not cause a problem that can occur due to the lack of air pressure or the like. In addition, the airless tire has an advantage of preventing a standing wave shape that is formed in the case of a radial tire and an advantage of significantly improving rotational resistance.
The airless tire has a structure that is completely different from the structure of the radial tire. Further, unlike the radial tire, the airless tire does not use compressed air in design at all. Accordingly, the airless tire is free from the risk of an accident that may occur during the travel of a vehicle due to the loss or lack of air pressure. Furthermore, unlike the case of the radial tire, the production costs of the airless tire can be significantly reduced by a material and the simplification of processes.
According to the structure of this airless tire, the airless tire includes a body that is made of an elastic material, a crown that functions as a tread and extends in a circumferential direction, and a side wall that is joined to the crown and extends.
Moreover, a non-pneumatic tire, which includes a reinforced annular band supporting a load and a plurality of web spokes transmitting load forces between the annular band and a wheel or a hub while being tensioned, has been known as Korean Patent Application Publication No. 2004-0027984. In recent years, an airless tire, which is adapted to perform a buffer action by a honeycomb-shaped buffer portion and to support pressure applied to the tire, also has been introduced in Korean Patent No. 1043001.
In the case of the airless tire including the plurality of web spokes, it has been introduced that a load is supported by only a tensile force of the web spokes.
However, when a load is supported by a tensile force and a compressive force, a more stable and appropriate tread area can be obtained as compared to a case where a load is supported by only a tensile force. Further, since it is possible to maximize vehicle performance, such as controllability, a braking force, and ride quality, further improved vehicle performance can be expected.